


Stinger

by Solelity



Category: Ace Combat
Genre: Air Force, Gen, Military, Random - Freeform, Short Story, non chronological order!, small bits and pieces
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solelity/pseuds/Solelity
Summary: The stories of a young pilot in the Ustian Air Force and his adventures on various forward deployments and sorties around Strangereal. Not in chronological order, and mostly a place for me to dump my writing about him. Made for myself but hopefully others enjoy.[None of this is necessarily part of his canon.]
Comments: 9





	1. 06/06/17

**Author's Note:**

> Niko finds himself stranded after ejecting on a snowy day.

  
USTIAN AIR FORCE

4TH AIR DIVISION

23RD TACTICAL FIGHTER SQUADRON  
RADIO CALLSIGN ~~“SIERRA 2-1”~~ **CHANGE PENDING** **  
**NIKO HALLE, “MINTY”  
  
  


PG 32  
  


 **Have you ever questioned your own morals so much that you lose yourself in the concept?** **  
**  
  
_Normally, I’d answer no. Not at all, there’s no point thinking so much about something so subjective. But as of late, I’ve been pondering about it. What do I fight for? Why do I keep doing this? This career brought me happiness and friends but simultaneously the worst emotional and physical pain I have ever experienced. I guess these are the kinds of questions you ask yourself when you sit behind enemy lines, hiding from the snow under a pine tree a day before your birthday. I couldn’t tell you how long it’s been but I can still hear the roar of my friends’ engines far above me. Too cloudy to see where they were, clear enough that I could see the burning fuselages of bandits falling from the sky. My pistol laid beside me not far from my reach in case I need it- I hope I don’t, but it’ll be a while until SAR have a chance to come look for me so it’s better to expect the worst than to give myself false hope. Talking of the worst, I could’ve sworn I saw the vague silhouette of a person a while back… Or maybe I was hallucinating. Lack of sleep, hydration, freezing cold.. I’d curl up and take a nap but it’d be a 50/50 if I woke back up. So tired, though… a little bit of shut eye surely couldn’t hurt._

_-Niko Halle_


	2. Stormcats

Ustian Air Force 4th Air Division, 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron “Stormcats”  
  


1st Element

  
Capt. Mark “Gears” Rochewell, Sierra 1-1 tail number 57, F/A-18E

1st Lt. Vaduz “Trip” Ivy, Sierra 1-2 tail number 62, F/A-18C, MIA, May 25th 2018 

2nd Element  
  
2nd Lt. Niko “Minty” Halle, Sierra 2-1 tail number 72, F/A-18C  
1st Lt. Lance “Strobe” Heinrich, Sierra 2-2 tail number 59, F/A-18E

3rd Element **_Defunct_**  
  
1st Lt. Avksentiy “Boom” Abram, Sierra 3-1 tail number 67, F/A-18C, KIA, Oct. 18th 2017  
1st Lt. Angelique “Blinky” Carre, Sierra 3-2 tail number 69, F/A-18C, KIA, Sept. 28th 2016

**A brief discussion of the way the squadron is set out, and what happened to the members.**

1st Element is combined of flight lead Gears and previously his wingman Trip. They take the point of formations and generally Gears tells the other element leads what to do and when. When split up, every element lead is like a mini flight lead- their wingman listens to them, and them only.  
  
Vaduz ejected over Belka after being engaged mistakenly by a separate friendly flight with a malfunctioning IFF whilst in a radar trail with the rest of Stormcat Squadron. He was shot down over a thick forest and SAR was never able to locate him, only the wreckage of his Hornet. It is uncertain whether or not he is alive.   
  
Angelique was shot down in an engagement against Erusean aircraft at the beginning of a conflict between Osea, Belka, Ustio, Sapin and Erusea. She failed to eject in time and went down with her aircraft. This is classified and to this day has not been released publicly.   
  
Avksentiy was shot down by another Erusean aircraft further into the silent conflict. He successfully ejected however his canopy ripped up his chute, implying that he died upon impact with the ground. The death of both Blinky and Boom rendered the 3rd element defunct as it no longer had any members.

Element 1 and 2 later merged together to form a flight of three. This made Gears “Sierra 1”, Minty “Sierra 2” and Strobe “Sierra 3”.


	3. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagued by nightmares after the untimely death of Angelique, Niko finds comfort in the presence of Strobe, one of the few people he genuinely considers himself close to.

_ I push myself to my feet unsteadily, looking up at the cloudy skies above as rain batters against my ripped up and bloody flight suit. One by one, I watched my friends drop like flies. Overhead flew the bandits- three of them, Raptors, recognizable as Oseans by the low vis roundels on their wings and tails. I watched curiously, enjoying the echoing silence before realising why it was so silent… vapour formed around the fuselage of the three Raptors and I covered my ears, bracing for the boom. God damn, that's loud! Fuck! I loosen up a little before letting my arms fall back down to my sides, looking around nearby as I spotted the chutes of 1 and 3 slowly fall to the ground close to me, bloodied up and shredded… oh God. No, please no, not them too.. _

_ The burning wreck of my Sukhoi lays nearby. I don't bother to go over, hell, I might accidentally set myself on fire like the dumbass I am if I tried to inspect it. Instead, I rush over to my friends bodies, limp, cold and lifeless. The first one I came up to was 1- Gears. I held him in my arms as I inspected him, fear striking me deep. He hadn't even gotten to put his visor up, the JMHCS still sitting over his eyes. He was dead. He.. he was dead. What about 3? Strobe? I gently put Gears down and stumbled before breaking into a sprint to the other downed pilot, coughing and crying. Tears streaked down my face as I came upon Strobes body. My tears stopped. I clasped my hand over my mouth at the sight before keeling over and vomiting. No. No, I'm not looking. I turned my back to him after I finished being sick, wiping my mouth with my arm. Blood. So much blood. Why was there so much blood? That question bounced in my head as the world went black and white, spinning around me as I collapsed towards the ground. This was the end. They're never gonna find us out here. There was no reason to live, anyways. _

"Niko!" A voice called distantly, so quiet yet so loud…

"Niko, god damnit!"

I felt something shake me as I groggily opened my eyes, letting out a small 'huh?'. I was drenched in a cold sweat.

It was Strobe, looking extremely concerned for me. 

"You were screaming again. You sure you're alright, man? I'm always here if you gotta talk, you know that."

I stared at him blankly.

"You're alive?" I asked quietly, my voice quivering.

"Uh.. of course I'm alive? With you on my side it'd be damn hard to die, kid!" He chuckled, but evidently he knew what was up as the smile on his face faded. "C'mere, Niko. Gimme a hug. It's alright. I've been there too. I think we all have.”

I burst into tears as I sat up to embrace him, sobbing violently into his shoulder. I just needed to let it out somewhere. Desperately, at that- it had been clawing at my mind for so long as I held onto the few pieces of reassurance I had in life.

“Don’t leave. Please.” I begged, harshly gripping the fabric of his t-shirt on his back. He didn’t leave. We sat like that for who knows how long. It was…

Weirdly peaceful.


End file.
